Honey
by dkshp
Summary: DENSI. all chapters tag to season 4. I like to make myself feel better about the supposition he was secretly with Monica for most of the season, so enjoy my head canon! ch 1: Deeks takes Kensi out to the movies after a long day apart. Story from Kensi's POV, tag to the end of 4x9 the gold standard.
1. Chapter 1: Honey

'No better way to celebrate stopping an Iran sanctioned terrorist attack on the US economy than with a scoop, ok maybe a pint, of rocky road ice cream' I thought as I unlocked the door.

But you know what they say about the best laid plans…

The headlights of my partner's truck blinded me as he lowered his window.

"Come on Kensalina! Ice cream is gonna have to wait. I got us tickets to see the Katniss girl partner with the hangover guy. I'll buy you popcorn at the theatre."

It's a little embarrassing to admit, but it took me a few seconds to overcome the shock of his sudden appearance and newfound interest in the movie I had not so subtly been pointing out since its release a few weeks ago. But, who am I to argue with Bradley Cooper? I silently told myself I was jumping into his truck for the chocolate he was sure to buy me to go with our popcorn. It had nothing to do with missing him this entire day, if anything I was more pissed that I had to partner up with Granger and endure his weird mind games. Yeah, that was it, it had just been a weird day because of Granger and his "evaluation," not because a certain blonde detective wasn't there.

"So, what I miss at work? Uhh sorry I couldn't come get you this morning."

I just raised an eyebrow at that, and wondered if Hetty included partners in her order 'never to be spoken of again' at the end of this case… Deciding on the safer route, just in case, because really that woman knows everything, I played around with the radio. I was surprised to see my favorite techno station was already a preset… we rarely took his car, usually he just parked it in my space and I drove when we carpooled to work.

The car ride was short and we ran into the theatre just as the credits were starting.

"I thought you said this was a dancing movie? Why is he in a mental institution? Is this a mental musical? I think I'd be okay with that, but where does Katniss come in? I don't think they allow bows and arrows in mental institutions" Deeks rambled on in between bites of popcorn. Already wise to his tricks, I told him it wouldn't work, "I don't share my chocolate with anyone, not even you."

"Oh come one! I paid for it! You'd think I'm entitled to at least half a bar… one piece?" I just glared at him as I very slowly put another piece into my mouth. He seemed to give up for a while, he actually watched most of the movie with minimal interactions. His fidgeting seemed more intense than usual, but I attributed it to the theatre setting, it was kind of strange doing something we so often did alone in the presence of random people.

He didn't even look at me again until we both reached into the popcorn bucket at the same time and our hands touched. He gave me that lopsided grin as if just remembering I was there. He took his hand out of the popcorn bucket and put his arm around my shoulder instead. "Missed you today" he whispered.

I don't know why it felt so foreign, we usually fell asleep in that exact position when we watched movies on my couch, but this was a public place and yet the act seemed so intimate. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves and then I took the coward's way out. "Okay fine" I said as I shrugged out from under his arm and handed him the rest of my second chocolate bar.

It seemed to either appease him or warn him off because he didn't try anything else the remainder of the movie. In fact he barely spoke to me, he really did appear to have a lot on his mind, I wondered if maybe he had a difficult day in court that day. I guessed the connection to his friend Ray brought a lot of memories back. I wished I could comfort him if he needed it, but I couldn't risk him asking about my day again. It felt weird withholding information on a case from him, even if the order had come from my boss.

The car ride home was silent again, we didn't speak until he pulled up outside my apartment. "So that was an interesting movie, I was a little disappointed with the lack of bow and arrow shooting, but it was great, really. And you know, there were definitely some similarities between that actor you love so much and your very caring partner who took you to see him" Deeks announced as he gave me his trademark grin again.

That grin does something to me, or maybe I just had too much popcorn. Yeah that must be it. Just in case, I scoffed at him. "Yeah, I noticed that too… although I'm quite shocked you're finally accepting that 'Artie' is equivalent to a garbage bag " I smiled back, proud of my joke.. He just looked at me with that face he reserves for when he thinks I'm the least funny person on the planet and mumbled something about blonde hair, blue eyes, and dashing good looks. I opened the door to get out of his truck before we got into a debate about his healthy ego, and that's when he said "I'll pick you up for work in the morning." It came out sounding halfway like a promise, halfway like he was requesting permission.

"I won't hold my breath" I gently scolded him for neglecting to keep this same promise early that morning.

"Yeah, okay. And that's my cue to go. Next time, you're buying the popcorn honey" Deeks replied.

I smiled at him as I shut the door, running into my apartment ready to crash for the night. It wasn't until I was already curled up into my pillow when I realized I had knocked a guy over the head just a few hours ago for calling me the exact same nickname I was still smiling over.


	2. Chapter 2: Chocolate cake

Post scene to episode History. 4x15

"Huh. What did I tell you Sam-dawg?! It's the Deeks 'art of war,' sometimes you just need to astound the crowd with the truth. Although I see why you wanted to wear the astronaut suit instead of being yourself, I would have probably gone with that also. Alright, well I will see you all later!" Deeks said as he grabbed his plate of cake to go.

Nell, looking affronted stopped him with a hand on his arm "Woah woah woah! You just beat Sam at his own game for THAT piece of cake and you aren't even going to eat it in front of him?!"

"Usually you would make him cringe watching you inhale that whole thing. Don't tell me you're going to throw it out? He's going to throw it out!" Callen deduced.

Deeks just smiled and said "nah, I got big plans for this piece of cake. Hmm there's definitely a joke in there somewhere. Enjoy Good old Morgan's retirement party!" as he walked out the room, cake in hand.

…

Kensi reflected on her conversation over coffee with David. It had been a spur of the moment decision, ditching the retirement party to check up on the young boy she had met just that day. Deeks had seemed a little disappointed she was leaving early, but she had felt a connection to David when he spoke about his father's death. Then his mentor who helped him move on proved to be a traitor, ready to abandon him at his own convenience. She recognized a lost soul when she saw one, and she wished she had had someone who reached out to her when she was in his place. The conversation was pretty light for most of the afternoon, but she had a feeling that was just what he needed right now. It's funny how she used to consider that deflecting, but now the light banter and talking about inconsequential things in times of struggle were like much needed oxygen. The lightness helped her work through her emotions until she was better capable of analyzing them. She supposed she should thank Deeks for teaching her how to cope with so much, but she was nervous that if she admitted his inappropriately timed jokes didn't annoy her anymore he would stop making them.

She let herself into her apartment and spotted him on her couch, he was typing on his laptop and looked to be studiously ignoring a piece of chocolate cake in front of him. She made a move to grab it but his hand blocked hers. "Uh uh. I won that piece of cake with my own art of war, and I brought it here to share it with you, not so that you can inhale it in front of my face." She looked at him like he was deranged for all of two seconds, until she sat next to him and waited for him to explain his victory.

"You see, Kensalina it all started out with a game of rock, paper, scissors…."

By the end of the story he was so obviously extremely proud of himself, she couldn't help the smile that was plastered to her face. That smile detracted from the sting when she rolled her eyes and sarcastically replied "You amaze me. Can we eat the cake now Sun Tzu?"

They sat there, laptop forgotten, smiling like idiots while they took turns eating a bite of chocolate cake, because neither trusted the other with the cake enough to get up and bring a second fork.

"So where do you keep that Kama Sutra Hetty gave you….?"


End file.
